Facebook asking for nude photos to protect users

Facebook is telling users to send them naked pictures they might have of themselves for their own protection.

The social network says it is part of a way to prevent someone from posting the photos online as a form of revenge porn.

The pilot program is being tested in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.

According to the Australia's Office of the eSafety Commissioner, "The pilot provides a portal for people concerned that an intimate image may be shared online to report it to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner who will notify Facebook to prevent any instances of the image being uploaded after the notification has been actioned."

"We've been participating in the Global Working Group to identify new solutions to keep people safe, and we're proud to partner with Facebook on this important initiative as it aims to empower Australians to stop image-based abuse in its tracks," said Julie Inman Grant, Australia's eSafety Commissioner.

Facebook says once user sends the the image via Messenger, it will use technology to create a digital fingerprint or link of the picture.

If the program works, it would mean that same naked picture will never show up on Facebook, even if a hacker or an ex tries to upload it.

"The safety and well-being of the Facebook community is our top priority," Facebook's Head of Global Safety Antigone Davis said. "As part of our continued efforts to better detect and remove content that violates our community standards, we're using image matching technology to prevent non-consensual intimate images from being shared on Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Groups and Messenger."

UPDATE: Facebook responded on Friday with a statement that read in part: "With this new small pilot, we want to test an emergency option for people to provide a photo proactively to Facebook, so it never gets shared in the first place." To read the entire statement, click here.